Evolve gains 46.8 wheel horsepower naturally aspirated on an E46 M3 S54 with their carbon airbox and Alpha-N tuning for a total of 326.8 wheel horsepower

Evolve gains 46.8 wheel horsepower naturally aspirated on an E46 M3 S54 with their carbon airbox and Alpha-N tuning for a total of 326.8 wheel horsepower

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Evolve gains 46.8 wheel horsepower naturally aspirated on an E46 M3 S54 with their carbon airbox and Alpha-N tuning for a total of 326.8 wheel horsepower

Wow, some incredible gains and results on the E46 M3 S54 motor from Evolve Automotive. The vehicle here is an E46 M3 which completely stock put down 280 wheel horsepower in SAE correction on the dynojet at ICS Performance. After the baseline, the car received the Evolve airbox which alone raised output to 295 wheel horsepower. Combined with European E46 M3 headers (which differ from US headers as they they do not have the integrated catalytic converter) output went to 312.9 wheel horsepower.

312.9 by itself is a very nice horsepower number for the E46 M3. To fully take advantage of the Evolve airbox though, an Alpha-N tune was necessary. The result? 326.8 wheel horsepower, naturally aspirated. Simply incredible results and gains that were once unheard of from the supposedly "maxed out" S54.

To put 46.8 wheel horsepower gained in perspective, this would take the S54 engine in this M3 to about 388 crank horsepower good for 121.25 horsepower per liter. That is elite specific output territory on a naturally aspirated six-cylinder motor especially above 3 liters of displacement. And it is achieved with just an airbox, tune, and Euro spec headers.

Great work by Evolve Automotive who continues to astound with their tuning prowess. Dynographs in SAE, uncorrected, and showing weather conditions below.

There will be several built head and camm'ed S54's with @evolve tunes in 2013. Mine will be safe for repeated trips to 8,500+. @normcaldwell and I delivered the Cams, Supertech valvetrain parts, and DLC followers to the machine shop during the holidays. The head is already hot-tanked and disassembled. And the OEM head/valvetrain have already been flow benched for baseline data. Should be a fun year for S54's.

There will be several built head and camm'ed S54's with @evolve tunes in 2013. Mine will be safe for repeated trips to 8,500+. @normcaldwell and I delivered the Cams, Supertech valvetrain parts, and DLC followers to the machine shop during the holidays. The head is already hot-tanked and disassembled. And the OEM head/valvetrain have already been flow benched for baseline data. Should be a fun year for S54's.

This is probably a stupid question. What is the advantage of Alpha-N...especially in a car that sees mostly track time?

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

So is Alpha N a more precise means of measuring airflow? I know it ditches the MAF but how often do MAFs fail in an NA engine? Its not something I feel is a necessity to delete.

I wish I could give you a more technical explanation, but I just don't think I know the concept well enough to suffice. What I can do is tell you the benefits that I've personally had after having, stock tune, Evolve MAF Tune, and Evolve AlphaN Tune.

First thing is that I am now able to use an Airbox that has much more massive air flow that the stock MAF is not capable of metering. The nice perk is that I get to use a sexy CF Airbox that sounds out of this world when paired with the S54B32.

Second thing I noticed is the feel of the throttle. Evolve has done a pretty darn good job with their throttle mapping for both MAF and AlphaN. With AlphaN, it took what I felt with the MAF tune to another level. This is the only car I've ever driven that is as close to throttle-cable setup. It feel as if the amount of throttle input I induce is in a 1:1 relationship with what the throttle bodies do. So what I noticed on the street is much more predictable, manageable, and natural throttle control. Whether it be heal-toe, holding throttle around a turn, on-off throttle transitions....it's just instantaneous, yet smooth and predictable.

With the MSS54, there is an integrated barometric sensor. So despite the extremes in weather condition and slight deviation in elevation that I confront, my car has never skipped a beat. It has driven 100% reliable and predictable in literally all four season with a drastically wide range of temperature.

Another nice perk of deleting the MAF is that now I can relocate the IAT sensor to somewhere that is more accurate and consistent in reading. In the stock S54B32 MAF, the IAT is integrated within the MAF sensor. The problem is that the MAF has a tendency to heat soak, tricking the IAT into thinking that the temps are higher than they really are. This is not very ideal for power output and consistency. With the MAF delete, I now use a IAT relocation sensor. Evolve has scaled the IAT within the DME maps to read 100% accurate and precise. With my own data logging and when up to speed, my IATs are always within a few degrees of ambient. In my opinion, this just shows how reliable and consistent both Evolve's Intake is and their choice of IAT location.

So AlphaN as a whole gives you the opportunity to experience a few small things here and there, that overall can have a nice change in the driving experience.

Hopefully that helps share one side of the story. If you have any specific questions, I'd definitely be willing to be as helpful as I can.

Flip...99% of what I was looking for. So I'm still waiting for the last 1%...anytime now...

But I get it now. So basically Alpha-N is mostly pointless until you get the CSL style airbox. On the "flip"side, getting the CSL style box and not getting Alpha-N leaves some gains on the table and is not required.

Going OT...but I had wanted to do headers and a 3.5" BW style exhaust with the software. Then at some point add the CSL box. So I am trying to figure out if software with the exhaust system will be a total waste.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by flipm3

I wish I could give you a more technical explanation, but I just don't think I know the concept well enough to suffice. What I can do is tell you the benefits that I've personally had after having, stock tune, Evolve MAF Tune, and Evolve AlphaN Tune.